Sleep is a restorative time when our body is meant to recover from the physical and mental stressors of our day. However if you're not sleeping on a good quality mattress and pillow that maintains a healthy sleep posture, you may find that you’re waking up feeling stiff and sore.
Pillow
Finding the right pillow for you can take some trial and error. The key is that it supports your head and neck in a neutral spine position, and this can vary depending on your preferred sleep position. Ask someone to take a picture of you laying on your pillow and observe what you see. If you sleep on your back, is your head tilted too close to your chest? Are you extended too far back? If you sleep on your side, is your neck tilted to one side or the other? (Stomach sleeper? keep reading!) These questions will help you determine how thick (or thin) your pillow needs to be.
Mattresses
How old is your mattress? Typically, mattresses have a lifespan of 10 years. If you’re seeing sagging, then you’re definitely overdue to replace your mattress! If you sleep on your side and are feeling pressure points at your shoulder or hip, your mattress may be too firm for you. Try these tips to "hack" your mattress with secondary pillows before taking the plunge and replacing your mattress.
This is a healthy sleep position. If you feel low back pain when sleeping on your back, try adding a pillow under your knees to help relax the low back.
Side sleeping is also a healthy position to sleep in, as long as you're not feeling pressure points at your shoulder or hip. Adding a pillow between your knees helps keep your pelvis balanced throughout the night.
Stomach sleeping is not ideal for most people as it can add extra stress on the spine, but if this is your preferred sleeping position, use a very thin pillow for your head or no pillow at all, or come to the very edge of a regular pillow if you tend to change positions throughout the night. A small pillow under your hips can help keep your back from hyperextending.
The most important thing when shopping for a new mattress and pillow is a risk free return policy. Not every product is going to work perfectly for everyone. However, if you're looking for a good place to start, Endy is the only mattress and pillow that is endorsed by the Canadian Chiropractic Association and is a very popular option.
The Endy pillow is unique as it's fully customizable. The filling consists of shredded memory foam that you can remove to get the thickness that's right for your anatomy. You can shop their mattress and pillow here*
For more personalized sleep advice and spinal health assessment, book with Dr. Nardine Bekhit (chiropractor) at healthcarehouse.janeapp.com
*Affiliate link, which means Dr. Bekhit makes a small commission for making the recommendation at no added cost to you!
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